Dark Mist: A Harry Potter Sequel
by PencilMania
Summary: Magic suddenly goes poof. Everyone's wand is as good as a stick. Harry, Hermione, and Ron may or may not have had a role in it. The only way to find out is to read chapter one of Dark Mist: A Harry Potter Sequel - Three years after the war
1. Chapter 1

Trabenum: creates a mild wind tunnel.

_How bad could it be?_ Ron thought. He rolled up his sleeves and waved his wand.

"Trabenum..." he whispered, and the entire library thundered and shook.

"Ron!" Hermione yelped. Three windows across the room from Ron shattered into the room and the window behind him shattered outside. For half a second, he experienced an immense wind power before his chair flipped back and his head hit the wall. The wind stopped after a few seconds. Ron pushed himself up and the room spun around him. He glanced at the carnage and vaguely saw Hermione waving her wand at the rubble. Something about her face told him she was yelling at him, but all he could hear was a loud ringing.

He stepped into the hallway and Hermione's angry scream suddenly found its way through the ringing and bounced back and forth inside his skull. Clutching his left hand to his forehead, he kicked the bathroom door open. He ran the tap and splashed cold water on his face. As he started to regain his senses, his nose caught the smell of freshly cut grass. For a second, he worried he banged his head too hard. This bathroom was nowhere near any grass. But as the throbbing pain in his head eased up, he splashed water on his face again and walked back to the library.

His desk was now buried in a pile of dust. Hermione was consoling Irma, the librarian, who would lose her temper over anything louder than a whisper. As the first magical research team at Hogwarts, Harry, Hermione, and Ron went through books, artifacts, mysterious spots around the school, and a lot of sophisticated magic. Since Hermione exptected accidents, she insisted that new spells be tested in a safe place. Ron knew he made a mistake but wasn't ready to deal with it.

Ron moved his eyes away from his battered desk and caught Harry smirking at him.

"Glad it wasn't me this time."

"As you should be ..." Ron said and tapped his wand on his desk to clear away the dust, picked up a notebook and a piece of parchment and put them under his left arm. He turned to spot Hermione and walked over to where she sat next to Irma. Irma's face showed nothing but fury.

"I'm sorry Ms. Pince. This won't happen again. I promise." Irma didn't move a single hair. Ron glanced to his side and locked eyes with Harry. Harry nodded. Ron didn't know what Harry meant. But before he could think about it any further, Harry spoke.

"Ms. Pince," Harry's voice sounded unexpectedly giddy, "me and Ron wanted to surprise you with this later, but I guess It's time." Irma tilted her head up, suspicious of Harry's intentions. Hermione squinted at Harry's words. She couldn't think of anything that Harry and Ron had worked on together lately.

"Ok. Stay where you are," Harry ran to the other side of the library, further upsetting Irma. She insisted that one must move gracefully in the library at all times. Harry realized what he did when he saw Hermione shaking her head on his way back.

"I hope you don't kill me before you see the results," Harry expected at least a chuckle, but he got none of that. "Let me demonstrate," he opened the book he brought back with him to a random page and held his right hand to his chin, as if thinking about something.

"Ron, do you remember the spell you found that did nothing?"

"Which one?"

"The one you cast on Marvels of Dark Architecture," Harry chuckled. At that, Irma's face turned a velvety shade of red. Casting a spell on a library book was unforgivable. She was only biding her time before the silly display was over. _How can they not know what bothered me after all these years? Are they really that stupid? No. They will not be forgiven for this._

"No way! You got that to work?" Ron was oblivious to Irma's rage, and so was Harry.

"Behold…"

Harry paused for a few seconds without moving or saying anything.

"Page seven hundred. That's a suitable number."

"For what?" Ron asked.

Harry grabbed the open page and ripped it off. Hermione gasped and Irma stood up in shock, her face now a deep shade of purple. Harry held his ground and tossed the ripped sheet into the air. Irma opened her mouth, completely losing her temper, but she froze in the middle of the first curse-word she intended to utter. She searched for the torn page all around, up in the air, behind the nearest shelf, but it wasn't there. Her mouth slowly closed and she remained silent. She turned back to Harry and saw a smug grin on his face. His index finger pointing to something on the page. Irma reluctantly peeked. Page seven hundred. Perfectly intact. Now she was completely frozen, on the edge of tears. Irma's face exuded a full rainbow of emotions.

"Harry! How did you do this?" Hermione beamed. This gave Irma some time to get herself together.

"Oh you know…" Harry said.

"I don't, actually..."

"How easy is this to reproduce?" Irma interrupted with a shrill voice._._

"A wave of a wand…" Harry smiled.

Irma could barely control her emotions, so she lurched forward and pulled Harry into a rib-crushing hug.

"You don't understand how great this is," Irma paused, a small tear forming on the edges of her eyes. She turned to look at Ron, a warm smile on her face, "please don't wreck my library again," and she spoke with a gentle voice Ron hadn't heard before.

"I won't," Ron smiled.

"I'll have to leave now. I trust you three will handle the cleanup," Irma said as she walked away, not waiting for an answer. _Those brats will wreck my library again, I_'_m sure of it. But for once, I hope they do it again. Eternally pristine books... Can it be?_ It was the best news Irma heard in her entire career as a librarian.

Harry watched Irma walk away for a few seconds. He turned back and saw Hermione holding her arms on her sides and a smile on her face.

"And how does that spell work, if you don't mind explaining?"

"If I tell you, can I skip the cleanup? I'm almost late for my students," Harry grinned.

"Fine," Hermione's curiosity forced her to give in to Harry's extortion.

"So I don't know exactly how it works—" Harry stopped when he saw Hermione roll her eyes. "If you don't want to hear it..." He pretended start cleaning up. Hermione grabbed his left shoulder and turned him back to face her.

"Ok I promise I won't say anything," she snickered under her breath.

"The charm binds the book in time, and it only works for books."

Hermione gaped, "woah, That's really impressive, time-turning spells are very difficult."

"Blimey, it's a time-turner?" Ron chimed in.

"I found a detailed description of it in volume four of Chadwick's Charms," Harry continued.

"There's no volume four, so which one was it?" Hermione asked. Harry didn't say anything. He only smiled. Hermione's jaw opened to a full drop.

"You didn't..."

"I did," Harry kept smiling, "I have to go now, I'll show you later." He walked back to his desk in a haste. He stashed his wand in his pocket, a bad habit he never managed to get over, then he picked up his notes and cup of coffee. He turned back and his eyes widened. He looked at a a sparkling clean library. Hermione shrugged. Harry shook his head and walked out the door. Of course, Harry knew that Hermione knew more than most wizards combined. He was amused that he'd found something she didn't know.

"Thanks Harry!" He heard Ron's voice from the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry walked through the quiet hallways. Various wizards on paintings moved around, socialized, and said random things. With class still in session, the hallways were as quiet as they could get. Except for the dead of night, when the painting-dwellers went to sleep. Harry loved these moments of silence. They made him feel like an adult. Even after three years as a Hogwarts staff member, he wasn't used to walking the hallways between classes, at night, and getting away with casting dangerous spells without detention. It was definitely his dream job. "I can walk over to Hogsmeade without anyone stopping me," he thought. It felt good when Harry reminded himself of his freedoms, even though he didn't really have that particular one at that very moment.

He walked up the stairs to the third floor, through the Serpentine Hallway and reached a room with a tag that read, "Class 3C." He shouldered the door open and walked inside a loud and muggy room, full of brilliant-looking young students all speaking simultaneously. The Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom was as dingy as always. Ever since Gilderoy Lockhart's portraits were taken down, the walls had been empty. For the last three years, Harry tutored first-year students in some practical aspects of the class. He helped them develop their Patronuses and improve their stances, among other things.

For almost an entire year, as Harry would open the door to the classroom, he'd imagine Snape waiting behind the door, and it made him nervous and somewhat sad afterwards. But after three years, he knew exactly what to expect: A loud classroom with kids who are mostly clueless, and he loved it.

"Who's toad is this?" Harry pointed at the tiny toad leaping onto the platform.

"Must be Fourfoot's" one of the kids spoke.

"Four whats?" Harry replied without thinking. Everyone in the class laughed. Everyone but one small girl with black hair that covered half her face. Harry could tell she wasn't laughing because she was dragging her feet to the front of the classroom. She leaned down and picked up her toad. Then she looked up at Harry.

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter." Couldn't he have picked Bathilda up himself? She thought as she leaned down and offered her hand to the tiny toad.

"What's his name?"

"I— " Fourfoot seemed a bit taken aback by the question. "Her name is Bathilda." The students laughed again. Harry wanted to ask Fourfoot for her real name, but he didn't want to give the class another reason to laugh. He nodded at her and she headed back to her desk. Harry knew better than to interfere, no one liked a teacher's pet. And he wasn't even a real teacher. As Fourfoot scampered back to her seat, she could think only one thing, "He asked for the toad's name but not mine. So he is a bloke just like the others…"

While Harry was in class, Hermione went on her daily afternoon trek around the castle. She took long, slow walks and surveyed walls, roofs, and various structures for any valuable information. She copied inscriptions written on stones, statues, and walls. She measured distances between objects and buildings and drew detailed maps of walkways, landmarks, and staircases. It had been many months since Hermione found anything new. "What exactly do I hope to get out of this?" Hermione wondered as she scribbled a note. But she knew the reason very well. She just liked it. She felt relaxed and ready for more reading after her daily walk and saw no reason to question it. "After all, Harry i out playing with kids and Ron is out playing with cups, why can't I play as well?" She thought to herself.

As she approached the end of her walk, she passed by the northern edge of the of the great hall, immediately outside the building. Right before she turned toward the front, she glimpsed an unfamiliar stone with the edge of her eyes. She knew the grounds so well by that time that a single misplaced object became easy to spot. She pointed her wand at the stone and spoke the levitation spell, "Wingardium Leviosa." The stone lifted up in the air, revealing a hollowed-out inside. A stack of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products sat on the ground where the stone was. Dungbombs, Weasley's Wildfire Whiz-bangs, and a Weather in a Bottle. Hermione's lips curled in a reminiscent smile. George closed the shop a year before and started doing a one-man magic show called 'The Single Twin.' The name broke everyone's hearts, except for George's audience, they loved him. He became so famous he even performed at the Wizard Olympics. Magic shows weren't a big deal before George became The Single Twin, but ever since, copycats and like-minded performers started popping up everywhere. Hermione half-heartedly wanted to confiscate the items, but she didn't, she placed the stone back where it was and walked away. "For you, Fred," she thought. But it would likely be the last time she let something of that sort slide. She was now working at Hogwarts, and a part of her duty was to observe the rules.

Ron was in the History of Magic classroom. Alone. He practiced a spell that would theoretically render objects immovable. Most say it doesn't work, including Ron's source. Although rumors say it was used in the construction of some Egyptian tombs, and Roman Aqueducts later in history. He used a porcelain mug as his object, and no matter how he tried to say the word Immobiliamus, the cup would continue to be movable. He broke a few cups in anger. "Why did I pick this stupid spell? What good would it be anyway?" Ron questioned himself, as he would every single day. "No. I spent too much time on it. And I feel like it should work. Feel.. Nothing more. I'm probably wrong..."

Every day, after spending four hours going through new material at the library, Harry, Hermione, and Ron each went their own way for the next hour. Harry chose to help the first-years, Hermione surveyed the castle, and Ron practiced spells he found interesting. On his last attempt at the Immobiliamus spell, he pointed his wand at the cup and yelled out in anger, "Immobiliamus!" but he accidentally touched the cup with the tip of his wand and it exploded in a cloud of dust, signaling Ron to call it a day.

At times, wonderful spells and discoveries kept them very busy. Other times, however, things got really slow. During a particularly slow month, the only valuable thing they got was a spell Ron found that baked potatoes in an instant. One time, Hermione very safely tried a spell that made everyone within a two kilometer radius very sensitive to light. This prompted professor McGonagall, the current headmistress of Hogwarts, and a number of teachers to cast spells that darkened all classes and hallways for an entire week.

A few days later, Harry, Hermione, and Ron had just used up their personal hour after the library and they started to head to the staffroom where they shared most of their meals. Hermione joined Harry and Ron a few minutes after they started eating. She rushed into the staffroom with her face red and her mouth stretched into a smile.

"I think I found a secret room," she struggled to catch her breath.

"where?" Ron's body froze with his spoon held near his mouth.

"There is an empty room next to the scroll-writing workshop with a circular wall. On the outside, the walls go all the way to the ground. There is no way to access the lower part under the empty room..."

"That's a hidden room!" Harry said, "let's add it to the top of our discovery list, sounds like fun." Ron went silent. He didn't know how to handle the excitement building up within him.

Hermione thought about what Harry said for a few seconds, "we still have to get through the spells we found in the Archive of Medicinal Potions, but I suppose we can make time."

"It's decided," Ron announced, his voice filling with excitement, "we have a new mission!"

Despite their excitement, they finished their lunch of roast duck, delicious pie, and some butter bear. Throughout their lunch, they talked with their mouths full and their brains wired. As soon as they finished eating, they cancelled any activity they had planned for the rest of the day and headed to the scroll-writing room. After a few hours of searching the walls inside and out and walking around the castle several times, Ron complained.

"Blimey, this thing is hidden very well. What if there is no room at all?"

Hermione studied his expression for a moment before responding.

"Ron. We knew it was hidden, didn't we?" She said with an impatient look on her face. Ron lowered his head.

"I know.. I was too excited to find a secret latch or something, but this seems much harder, that's all."

Over the next three days, they reduced their reading hours at the library and most leisurely activities and spent their time trying to enter the room. Hermione found this a good reason to dive into Bathilda Bagshot's Hogwarts: A History. She learned a lot of things she'd missed the first fifteen or so times she'd read the book, but nothing that hinted at the hidden room. Harry and Ron kept searching their own way whenever they had time, but no new clues emerged. So they continued to search whenever they got a chance.

On the third day, Hermione spotted professor McGonagall heading into the Hogwarts building. Which was increasingly uncommon since McGonagall became principal and assumed a ton of responsibilities.

"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione called, "I've been meaning to find you."

McGonagall stopped and looked at Hermione, raising her eyeglasses a bit.

"Ms. Granger," McGonagall smiled, "I heard you've been doing a good job around here. And that spell to bake potatoes is an absolute delight." Hermione blushed, but was a bit disappointed that the baked potato was her team's best credit.

"Thank you professor... That was a slow day."

"What do you need Granger?" McGonagall said affirmatively but kindly. Hermione looked at professor McGonagall with testing eyes before starting. After all, she was looking for a hidden room, and that only brought back memories of a furious McGonagall. But she gathered her thoughts and managed to speak.

"There is a hidden chamber under the scroll-writing room, do you know anything about it?"

McGonagall's face didn't show any changes for a few seconds, making Hermione nervous, but she brought her palms to her mouth and started laughing, then she put her hands on Hermione's shoulders, gasping for breath, her mouth now stretched in a wide smile.

"Oh Ms. Granger, how you three made your passion of troublemaking into a job is beyond me, and the fact that you still manage to find something every week is astounding." Hermione was seriously blushing now, but McGonagall went on, "And I heard Mr Weasley made some wonderful progress in his chase after the fabled Immobiliamus," she giggled.

"He did?" Hermione asked, half surprised and half doubtful.

"Well… He's overcome his anger at the cups, which is good because we were approaching a serious shortage ..." her voice trailed off for a second, but she continued, "and to answer your question, I don't know anything about that room. If you need my help with anything, set an appointment with professor Sprout. Otherwise, please notify me before you open any locks or doors, we don't want another scare in school ... Or worse."

That summed it up for Hermione. She thanked McGonagall and continued her walk back to the staffroom, where she expected to meet Harry and Ron. The hallways were now bustling with students and teachers. And since returning to work at Hogwarts, Hermione never got used to the dozens of young eyes following her every move. Harry and Ron didn't mind it, as Harry was used to it and Ron actually enjoyed it. She made it into the staffroom and found Harry and Ron eating. But as soon as she walked in, Ron started talking, almost choking on his food.

"H,mone, Hy, Room," Ron said.

"Swallow your food first!" Hermione said and waited until one of them talked, which ended up being Harry.

"In Marvels of Dark Architecture," Harry started, swallowing the last bit of his food, "they talk about rooms accessible only to house-elves," he paused, his mouth stretching into a smirk at Hermione's astounded face. She paused, then giggled.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you too were excited about something you read in a book. How times change ..." Her voice trailed off. Harry and Ron looked at each other, smirking.

"Pay up," Harry said, gesturing to Ron to hand him something.

"Blimey. I forgot about the bet," Ron reached in his pocket and placed a single Galleon in Harry's extended hand. Harry smirked, looked up and found Hermione giving him an inquiring look.

"Ron thought you probably already knew about this and dismissed it for a good reason, so we made a bet," he said. Hermione laughed.

"I say we go tonight," Ron said.

"Don't be silly," Hermione said, "we have a ton of things to do today. Also ... McGonagall asked that we tell her before we try to enter any rooms." Ron's face dropped a bit. He got himself too excited about an adventure too soon.

"What did she say?" Ron said.

"She said to let her know before we open any locks..." Hermione rolled her eyes at him, knowing that he'd suggest there were no locks involved.

"Bu—"

"Don't even try Ron," Hermione said affirmatively.

"It's settled," Harry said, "tomorrow we inform McGonagall and get an approved time to go in, we have no other options." Hermione nodded. Ron continued to chew his food in silence, with the face of someone who'd been betrayed, but he was excited on the inside, knowing it won't be too long before they get into that room.

"Kreacher?" Hermione looked at Harry.

"I think so. We better call him now and let him know so he can be prepared. Kreacher!" Harry raised his voice when he spoke Kreacher's name, startling Hermione and Ron. A second later, Kreacher stood in the middle of the staffroom with a smile on his face.

"Good to see master Harry!" Kreacher bowed, "and master Harry's friends!" he bowed at Hermione and Ron. All three of them bowed back at him, making him bow even harder.

"How can I help master Harry?" Kreacher looked Harry in the eyes. Harry leaned down to bring his face closer to Kreacher's level, but as he lowered himself, Kreacher lowered himself further.

"Kreacher! Get on your feet."

"Kreacher is sorry. Kreacher has upset master!"

"No... No Kreacher, I only want to talk to you like normal people," Harry laughed, "we need your help to apparate into a hidden chamber at Hogwarts in a few days," Harry said. Kreacher stared, waiting for Harry to add something else.

"We wanted to let you know so you'd be prepared," Hermione broke the silence.

"Kreacher would be happy to help!" His face beamed, "Please call me when you need to go into the room, any time," he bowed as he spoke.

"Thank you Kreacher," Harry nodded.

"Thank you Kreacher!" Hermione and Ron spoke together. Kreacher bowed again and apparated out of the room. Leaving them in silence.

Right after lunch, Hermione requested an appointment with McGonagall. After that, they only had to wait.


	3. Chapter 3

On September 25th, two days after they'd found a way to get into the hidden room, Harry, Hermione, and Ron met at the library at an earlier than usual hour. The day to enter the secret room had come, and they were prepared.

"What's if we end up finding a kitchen pantry. After all, most house-elves at Hogwarts work at the kitchen," Ron said.

"Shhh," Hermione shushed him after noticing Irma eyeing them from the corner. Harry lifted his eyes up from his work.

"That's not the least of our worries. The room could be dangerous," Harry said while adjusting his seat, making a good deal of noise. Hermione looked in his direction and nodded.

"I think we can take whatever's in there, especially with that wind spell I learned," Ron started to speak at a leisurely voice, prompting Irma to bang on her desk twice, startling him into silence. He whispered something at Hermione and Harry, but neither of them heard him, and they decided it was best to focus on some work. They couldn't help being excited, however, since their mission had gained a new sense of seriousness that morning. As everyone at Hogwarts woke up to a note plastered on every pasteboard in the school.

"The Hogwarts Magical Research Team is conducting field work on school grounds this afternoon. Today will be a half-class day. Students must return to their houses after lunch. All classes, school activities, and detentions are hereby postponed and/or cancelled, as appropriate. Dinner will be served in house common rooms. House prefects are to ensure that everyone is back in their houses and report that to the Magical Research Team at the library thirty minutes after lunch.

Minerva McGonagall,

Hogwarts Headmistress"

"Blimey!" Ron said, "they're cancelling school for us," he said as he returned from the bathroom across the hall.

"Don't let it get to your head," Hermione said, "one lucky outcome would be an empty room." She had gotten more looks and pointing fingers as she walked through the crowds that morning, and she didn't like that one bit. Returning empty handed was one thing, but what if something went wrong?

They finished their daily reading and note-taking in a haste and headed to their individual activities before lunch. They had decided enough preparations were done and it was best to return to ordinary routine on that day. It was a decision to prepare them in case they failed, and to ground them out of their riveting nervousness.

Ron also went about his usual routine, which to everyone's surprise, still involved practicing the immobiliamus spell. He had tried the spell twenty seven times that day, and was about to settle in for the next try. He carefully placed a cup on the floor, pointed his wand at it and stared. He took a deep breath, pointed his wand at the cup and spoke the word very softly, "immobiliamus." He bent down in the motion he'd gotten used to to pick up the cup, but this time, he faced unusual resistance, causing him to stumble forward and catch himself in the last second before falling. He stared at the cup in disbelief. Approached it, grabbed it, and it behaved like a permanent part of the floor. Ron pushed and shoved but nothing would happen.

"Accio cup!" Ron pointed his wand at the cup and spoke. Nothing happened. It occurred to him at that moment that he didn't know how to reverse the spell, and that the cup might stand there forever. But there were no classes for the rest of the day, so he was a bit relaxed about that aspect. He looked out the window and realized it was time for lunch, which meant they were almost inside the hidden room. He forgot about his recent success and dilemma, took his wand and rushed to the library to meet with Hermione and Ron.

They decided to get their lunch at the library that day. Irma was out for the afternoon. Otherwise they wouldn't dream of such an act. They consumed their food faster than ravenous wolves. And they sat. They anxiously awaited the house prefects to arrive. At half past twelve, the library door swung open and four students with prefect badges walked in. Harry, Hermione, and Ron beamed. The student at the front, a tall, determined-looking young woman sporting a shiny Slytherin badge approached the area where Harry's desk sat, opposite Ron and Hermione's. "The students are all in the dorms, Mr. Potter," she said abruptly.

"Thank you!" Harry said, "best news I've heard all day." He would have told her to call him Harry on any other day, but he was too excited to think straight at that moment.

The young prefect hesitated before turning to leave, she took a few steps towards the door, before stopping to look back. "Mr. Potter," she said, "Can we help in any way?" Harry didn't expect that question. As a result, he stared at her for a few seconds before responding. In her eyes, and in the eyes of the other prefects, he saw a visible pain. A pain he remembered. It was the pain of being left out of the know. The pain of being a child.

"I'm sure you're all very capable wizards," Harry said, prompting disappointed reactions from them. "But," Harry cleared his throat,"I will discuss the possibility of involving prefects in some aspects of our work with Professor McGonagall, and I have a feeling she won't mind," He finished.

"Keep in mind," Hermione spoke for the first time, "everything has to go well today for us to be discussing that," her lips curled in a smile.

"Thank you so much!" The young prefect spoke, "we'll leave you to your work," she and the other prefects bowed and promptly left the room.

As soon as the prefects left, Harry, Hermione, and Ron started packing the few things they needed. They felt an eerie silence surrounding them, a silence they hadn't experienced before: In bright daylight, on a school day. The three of them quietly moved around the room before they gathered next to a reading table, setting to leave. They had opted to summon Kreacher as soon as they got near their target, since there was no reason in making him walk with them. They started to walk towards the door but right before they left the room, Ron froze in his place.

"I just remembered," he announced, "I got the Immobiliamus spell to work!" he tried to sound casual but his excitement was very clear.

"What? Show us," Harry demanded.

Hermione's face said she didn't believe him, but her eyes were excited. Ron walked back into the library and approached his desk. He picked up a coffee cup and placed it on the reading table close to the door and stood a foot away from it. Harry and Hermione stepped closer. Ron took a deep breath, pointed his wand at the cup and said the word "Immobiliamus," just like the way he said it in practice. He reached for the cup and picked it up, the spell didn't work. He put the cup back on the table, his face getting red. But he squared his shoulders, took another deep breath and felt himself calm down, "Immobiliamus!" and again, when he leaned down to pick the cup up, it moved quite freely.

"You sure you made it work?" Harry looked at Ron questioningly. Ron tried not to be upset by Harry's question.

"I think so ... Yes. I couldn't move the cup. I almost fell," then he slammed his forehead with his palm, "I'm an idiot. The cup is still standing in the History of Magic classroom. I couldn't move it."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes widening at how sincere Ron sounded, "in that case, we head there if we're done early this evening," she smiled.

Harry walked over to where Ron was standing and pointed his wand at the cup, "immobiliamus!" he leaned in and easily picked up the cup. He tried it a few more times. By the sixth time, Harry got a bit flustered and kicked the cup, sending it flying. As the cup was halfway in the air, Harry pointed his wand at it and tried to bring it back, "Accio coffee cup!" he spoke with confidence, yet the cup kept going up, "Accio coffee cup! Accio cup! Accio cup!" Harry spoke the spell three more times before the cup landed on the floor and shattered in a thousand pieces.

"What was that for!" Hermione scolded as she pointed her wand at the mess, "Reparo!" but nothing happened. "Reparo!" She demanded again.

"Maybe cleaning the library earlier took it all out of you?" Harry said jokingly. Then he pointed his wand at the shattered pieces, "Reparo!" Nothing happened. They looked at each other, their faces fall flat.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry pointed at a book sitting on a nearby table. The book did not move. Harry almost felt the book sticking its tongue at him.

"Trabenum!" Ron yelled, prompting Harry and Hermione to gasp and cover their faces. But nothing happened. The three of them stared at each other in silence.

"What's happening?" Ron whispered in a deep, serious voice.

Harry held his wand up and looked at it, "I'm not sure." He pointed it at the nearest piece of parchment, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Nothing.

"Lumos!" Ron tried his luck at a lighting charm, the first spell he ever learned, but still got nothing.

"What does this mean?" Hermione said, her voice shaking.

"Kreacher?" Harry said, both wondering if that would still work and actively calling Kreacher. Nothing happened as well. "Kreacher!" He yelled. Still nothing.

The three of them stood, frozen in a trance for at least two minutes. Harry and Ron fired off a few spells to no avail. Their choice of spells got more dangerous before the library door squeaked and scared them still. McGonagall walked into the library looking aghast.

"What have you three done?" she gasped for breath as she spoke.

"Nothing professor. Our wands stopped working ..." Ron was the first to speak.

"Not wands," McGonagall's face dropped, "I was preparing a potion and all the ingredients went stale. It's like no magic is left in the world. I was hoping you three were somehow responsible."Hermione's eyes suddenly caught to the nearest painting. It was completely dark, like a television set that was turned off. She looked around the room and all the paintings were dark. That had been the reason for the eerie silence all-along, so it must have happened recently, while they were at the library. She knew it couldn't have been something they did, which gave her a tiny bit of relief.

"What about the lights?" Harry asked.

"The lights!" Ron beamed. McGonagall and Hermione were puzzled for a second, but both caught on at the same time, looking decidedly happier.

"Weasley!" McGonagall chimed, "this could mean that warding and protection spells are still in place. I still don't know why potions won't work."

"Well," Hermione interjected, "maybe the potions are fine, we just can't use magic for some reason. It's just like if a muggle tried to mix potions. Nothing would happen of course."

"A mm... Muggle.." McGonagall said as she sat in the nearest chair and let out a big sigh. "Now what?" She looked at the three of them, but no one had anything to say.


End file.
